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You and whose army?

I met my army last night. Oh yes, I have my own army you know (so late-paying clients had better watch out)!

As evidence, here’s the start of an email I received recently:

“Please find attached an invitation to an evening reception at Napier House TA Centre, with Major General W G Cubitt CBE, who commands the Army in London…As an influential figure within your community and a key opinion-former, we would welcome the opportunity to meet you and to update you on your Army.”

I thought it was a spoof when I saw they consider me an ‘influential figure’ and ‘key opinion-former’! But it turns out that, yes indeed, there is an Army Presentation Team that tours the country to promote awareness and understanding of the British Army with ‘the good and the great’ British public.

It seems they feel their successes are somewhat ignored in the media, who prefer to focus on bad news. So they aim to cascade more positive messages throughout the civilian community, particularly those with no connection to the armed forces (that counts me in, then).

I’m not sure why their PR machine is not doing a better job with the media, but I certainly know a bit more about the Army than I did before. For instance, they give up a lot of their freedoms so that we can enjoy ours.